The Ongoing Adventures of the Spider-Duo
by Courier999
Summary: For the average college student, merely keeping up with their workload can be a daunting task. For Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, they have to balance keeping up with their schoolwork with their service as New York's resident spider-themed superheroes. Can they keep this juggling act going, and for how long? Followup to "Partners in Crime Remastered". Rated T for violence. R&R!


SPIDER-MAN AND SCARLET SPIDER: The Ongoing Adventures of the Spider-Duo

_Spider-Man_ and all related characters are property of Marvel. This is a follow-up to _Partners in Crime Remastered_, and is thus set on Earth-H.

Chapter 1: Manic Monday

"_Good morning, New York. This is Whitney Chang, Channel 9 News, and here's our top story. In the wake of the ongoing Oscorp police scandal and former CEO Norman Osborne's rampage as the Green Goblin, the company's new CEO Mona Os–_"

There was a quiet _CLICK!_ as the channel suddenly changed to a rerun of _Perry Mason_.

"Mary Jane, I was watching that!" a blond-haired young woman snapped as she repositioned herself on the couch.

"Don't you have the Channel 9 app on your tablet or something, though?" came the reply.

"Well, it's the principle of the thing!"

"_Um, ladies?_"

Gwen's eyes drifted upwards to see her other roommate clinging to the apartment ceiling.

"Yes, Peter?"

"Sorry to interrupt, but don't we all have somewhere to be soon?"

It was at that moment that it sank in for both Gwen and Mary Jane.

"Dibs on first shower!" both cried in unison, with Mary Jane getting a head start.

* * *

_Straczynski Humanities Building– several minutes later_

"_Am I boring you, Miss Watson?_"

Mary Jane promptly snapped out of a particularly pleasant daydream involving Peter and her beating the ever-loving tar out of Black Cat.

"No, Professor Slott!" she said.

"In that case, perhaps you can elaborate on what Miss Cooper just said regarding the influence of classical works on European artwork from the 15th century onwards."

* * *

_McFarlane Computer Sciences Building– same time_

"…and thanks to a little tweaking to the Prophet algorithm, we're now able to identify which buildings in the neighborhood are at greatest risk of catching fire." Gwen proudly proclaimed as she and a short, stocky brunette about her age stood before the class.

There was a brief "Hmmm" from the nearby professor.

"Congratulations, Miss Stacy and Miss Green. I'm most impressed– not least because of the practical applications of your program."

"Thank you, Doctor Murray." Gwen replied.

* * *

_Lieber Sciences Building– same time_

"And with the further refinement of techniques such as CRISPR-Cas9, it is looking increasingly likely that we may soon see trans-species gene editing as a viable technique. Imagine if you will, the unlimited potential of splicing human DNA with, say, the genes responsible for regenerative capability in the green iguana…"

_And little does Professor Delaney know that a quasi-successful example of his speculation is sitting right in front of him._ Peter thought as he took notes at a furious pace.

* * *

_Peter, MJ and Gwen's apartment– that afternoon_

"_All units, be advised– we have an ongoing robbery at Hepburn's Jewelry Emporium on 31st Street. Perpetrators appear to be Shocker and Kangaroo. Repeat, perpetrators appear to be Shocker and Electro._" a police-band radio on a table announced.

Peter sharply exhaled.

"Well, Red– duty calls once more." he said as he rose from the couch.

"I hear ya, Tiger. Now if only we had a little more variety with the bad guys– I mean, how many times have we busted Shocker this month?"

"Six– and two of those were back-to-back." a nearby Gwen replied.

"Maybe this'll be lucky number seven and he'll, y'know, stay in jail for once!" Peter exclaimed just before he and Mary Jane dashed out.

* * *

_Hepburn's_

"…and that should be the last of the loot!" a blond-haired man with an Australian accent proudly announced as he flung a stuffed duffle bag into the back of a waiting van.

"Great! Now let's get outta this place before _they_ show up!" Shocker replied.

Right on cue, both Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider landed on a nearby roof.

"You were saying?"

Shocker clambered into the back of the van seat.

"You drive." he said.

Once Shocker was situated alongside the duo's ill-gotten gains, the van shot off down the street.

"The usual procedure, Tiger?"

"The usual procedure." came the reply.

And with that, the two crimefighters swung off, Scarlet jockeying towards the vehicle's front while Spider-Man covered the rear.

* * *

"I'm telling you, Frank– maybe Max and I should up sticks and go somewhere without those two spider-loons– like Boston, or Pittsburgh, or Philadelphia, or Dallas." Shocker said as Kangaroo swerved to avoid ramming into a group of pedestrians.

"Yeah, well in case you forgot, this is where most of the rich bastards live, Spiders or no Spiders!"

"…and now you jinxed us."

Kangaroo groaned as he saw Scarlet Spider swinging towards his windshield.

"Not this time, you don't!" the former screamed as he gunned the engine. From his spot in the back, Shocker let out a chuckle as he saw the two Spiders narrowly avoid a midair head-on collision.

"Now, young grasshopper, observe the proper way to deal with Spiders." the Sinister Six alumnus proclaimed as he raised his gauntlets, eyes unwavering from the inbound Spider-Man. A scant few moments later, a humming noise filled the air, and Spider-Man's hands flew to his stomach as though he'd been punched there.

"Gets 'em every time!"

Suddenly, Scarlet Spider leapt out in front of the van as if out of nowhere, fired off a length of web from each wrist, and began tugging _hard_ the moment she hit the ground.

"Why'd I even bother?" Shocker grumbled as the van was brought to a very sudden halt, sending him flying backwards on a collision course with the back of his cohort's seat.

* * *

_The apartment– that evening_

"Lemme guess– Shocker and his latest friend are back in jail for now." Gwen asked as her roommates returned, briefly looking up from a large saucepan that was currently on the stove.

"Got it in one." Peter wearily replied.

"Feels like it's been ages since we faced off against some of those other baddies– Cat, Electro, Mysterio, Vulture, Doc Ock, that Scorpion guy. But no, it's either petty criminals or penny-ante supervillains for us these days. Frankly, I'd kill for some form of variety right about now." Mary Jane added.

Gwen let out a massive sigh.

"And you just had to tempt fate, didn't you?"

"Look, it's Monday, I'm bushed, and right about now I couldn't give a rat's ass about fate!" came Mary Jane's retort as she took a seat at the kitchen table.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Yes, I'm back to Earth-H and Spider-Man after all this time. As for the hows and whys, I've been on a _Spider-Man_ kick recently after having just acquired and played the recent video game developed by Insomniac (which this fic will be drawing heavily from).

Also, time for a quick heads-up regarding Earth-H: assuming I can actually stick with the project, you can expect remastered editions of the various other fics such as _Musical Illusionists_ and _The Evil Below_ to appear within the next few months, with new features such as…

More consistent worldbuilding to account for the Marvel stuff!

Better versions of _The World's Finest Soldiers_ and _New World of Fear_ (in the case of the latter, thank the fine folks at Disney+ for having the entirety of _Gargoyles_ up for streaming)!

Things from other, more recent, incarnations of properties– so expect elements from the IDW GI Joe and Jem comics to pop up!

Tighter connections between fics!

* * *

On an unrelated note, the Kangaroo mentioned here is an actual Spider-Man villain introduced in 1970. Sorry for his relatively lackluster showing in this chapter, but he'll get more a chance to shine down the road. As for the 'Prophet algorithm' that Gwen mentioned in this chapter, it's apparently the forecasting tool used by Facebook (who made it open-source back in 2017).


End file.
